Extended Ending for Final Exam
by Scioneeris
Summary: A RobinxRaven ending after the HIVE5's first attack on the Titan Tower. Oneshot.


**This is mostly from Raven's POV and follows her thoughts and emotional conflicts with falling for Robin. She's coming up to the fact of almost accepting that she could seriously be in love with him. There is some proof as she finds herself unable to keep her hands out of his life and continues to help him with the nightmares plaguing him at night. This clip is directly after Episode Three in season one, when the Titans had their first encounter with the HIVE5 and serves as an extended ending for a RobinxRaven pairing. **

**I'd love to know what you think. Read and review, please ! **

**Next is the ending for episode 4. Coming soon!  
**

**I do not own any Teen Titans anything! **

She waited to hear his footsteps. It had been almost a week since the HIVE attack and yet Robin would still patrol the hallway as midnight crept into the tower. His footsteps would pause before every door, listening, it seemed to be sure that all was well. He would continue on after this had been verified and tonight, Raven stood at her door, waiting for the footsteps to pause in front of her.

In the safe darkness of her bedroom, she clasped her hands to her chest, steadying the urge to let them tremble and using the physical touch to keep her emotions in check. It had been useless to fight them to begin with. It seemed love was a far stronger thing that she'd ever encountered.

Loving Robin was an entirely different emotion altogether.

_No! Focus!_

Raven squeezed her eyes shut, chanting the meditative words over and over until her shaking hands stopped. Short, ragged breaths left her lips as she took a step forward and pressed her forehead to the cool, metal door. Twisting her head to the side, she let her powers hover mindlessly while her ear listened for Robin's approach. He was quiet. Very quiet. So very quiet that if she hadn't been so aware of him to begin with, she might not ever have known.

The steps were soft and deliberate, hiding the deadly force behind them, masking the concern that guided them and still, pressing onward. She winced, reaching out as close as she dared to touch his life aura, to be sure that he was alright, to be sure that he was fine.

Relief flooded through her body, spilling out in the way of tears that coursed down her face. She slowly sank to the floor, using the door as a backrest, knees pulled up to her chest. She waited until the footsteps reached her door and then she leaned back, touching her head to the metal block between them.

Robin.

He seemed to linger for a moment and then the footsteps continued.

_No! Come back! Robin…please…just stay a…little…longer…with me._

A faint shudder rippled through her and Raven clenched her teeth. It was getting a little easier to deal with the emotional surges, but it didn't mean that she appreciated them. It could be a useful source of energy when they were called to battle, but it was also dangerous enough that perhaps she wouldn't touch it.

Unless absolutely necessary.

When she couldn't hear him anymore, Raven returned to her bed where she painstakingly rolled the sheets around her to form a cocoon. It was some semblance of warmth and security for when she needed it. When her heart wouldn't still and her mind wouldn't settle.

Sleep was long in coming.

He came again the next night.

This time, Raven waited at the door again. She waited to hear his footsteps, waited to hear him pause. She almost smiled as the steps drew nearer.

Is this wrong of me, Robin? She wondered. Is it wrong of me to keep hoping you will do this? That maybe one day you'll stay and-

The thought was interrupted by the sound of movement just outside the door. Raven swallowed a gasp as she heard the rustle of his fabric and the sound of his movement.

He was sitting down.

He was staying.

He wasn't moving on.

The reality of it held her frozen to the bedroom floor as she stared at the giant metal door, still, the only thing between them. After a long moment, she found herself again and took a seat on the floor, using the door for a backrest again. She used her gifts just the slightest to hear the steady beating of his heart.

It was a soothing, calming sound and when she felt his consciousness slipping, she reached in to his mind and gently begged his permission. There was no answer, no resistance, so she entered.

It wasn't much brighter than her own, things were still dark and dreary. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized Robin was asleep and he was dreaming. The images playing around her like a kaleidoscope were memories she couldn't recall. And then it registered. He was remembering the HIVE attack. He was remembering His attack. He blamed himself for the Teen Titans almost disbanding. The guilt was weighing on him so heavily that sleep was elusive more nights than one.

_Robin…_

She inched closer in his mindscape until she saw the entire scene play out before her. It pulled at her heart until it touched her soul and then it demanded that she no longer stand idle. She'd been wallowing in her own well of emotions, drinking up self-pity and hating her very existence for what she was.

This was not right. She owed him, if no one else. Yes, she owed him. He did not treat her like the curse that she was, he did not take of her as others had.

She saw images flickering through his dreamscape again, as he replayed the fight with Gizmo, ending with the question. 'Who is Slade?' This question tormented him the most, she could feel the outer reactions and it was enough of a warning to know she would have to leave. It wasn't safe to stay here any longer.

"Robin…"

Raven jerked awake and to her feet. She took a handful of careful breaths and then opened her bedroom door. He'd been sitting just like she had and now his upper body fell backwards, due to the lack of support. Dropping to her knees, Raven caught his head, cradling it in her lap.

He didn't even wake.

She smirked. "Heavy sleeper?" There was no answer, of course and she sat there for awhile, holding his head in her lap and smoothing away the wrinkles on his forehead. "You do not need to blame yourself, Robin. It was not your fault. There was nothing you could have done and it did end well. You came back." Her hand tightened in his hair. "I almost thought you wouldn't come back."

"Raven?" He croaked, vision blurry and mind whirling. "Raven?"

The blue-purple-cloaked figure before him seemed to blur and then fade, her scent drifted over him and he could feel the sleep tugging him back to the dreamland awaiting.

_No!_

He did not want to go.

_Raven! _

His mental scream made the empath wince. She could hear him quite clearly. It wasn't necessary to scream. She needed to calm him down and get him back to sleep. It wouldn't do for him to be tired and lagging through the day. He was always too stubborn when it came to taking care of himself.

"It's okay, Robin. It's okay."

Her voice was too near, too soft, too real. Robin tried to open his eyes, but he felt soft, cold hands on his face.

"Go to sleep, Robin. I won't let the dreams haunt you. Just sleep. You'll always be there for us. I'll always be there for you. You will find Slade. Until then, sleep. You need to sleep, Robin."

_If this is a dream, then I would gladly let you haunt me…forever…_

The blackness claimed him.

Raven completed her transport into his bedroom, seeing him comfortably settled before she returned to her own quarters. It was too tempting to stay with him in such a state, yet she would never forgive herself, if she were to take advantage of the moment.

"Sleep well, Robin." She began to light candles in a circle in her bedroom. The soft, flickering glow brought a golden hum of energy to the room. It was a simple, protective barrier to let them know if the HIVE came again.

Should they ever show their despicable faces again, she'd stand by Robin and the others, always. But she would stand just the same, whether together, or alone.

_For my home. For my friends. For more than I have to give…_


End file.
